Some of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz's supporters have pushed for her to run for governor in 2016. / Star file

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I was standing in my boss’s office Thursday morning, talking about the strange, busy news week that it had been, when we noticed snow flurries outside the office window.

“Snow, a week before Halloween,” the boss man said, shaking his head.

Yes, folks, it’s indeed been a strange few days in Indiana. So let’s recap.

• State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz upped the tension in her battles with the state Board of Education on Tuesday when she filed a lawsuit accusing its members of violating state law by meeting in private. The lawsuit was a disappointing symbol of the state’s education leaders behaving like the school kids they are supposed to serve.

Who’s right? Well, nobody. Both sides distrust each other and probably for good reason. The board and state Republicans have tried to strip Ritz of power since her surprise election a year ago over former Republican education chief Tony Bennett. And Ritz has shown a pattern of, to borrow an analogy, bringing machine guns to street fights. While I support the board’s belief in education reform, both sides need to sit down and decide whether they are going to continue to squabble or seriously try to address the issues facing Indiana’s schools.

• Meanwhile, some supporters of Ritz have been pushing her on social media as a candidate for governor. The extremely premature move has led to understandable eyebrow-raising from her critics. But from a purely political standpoint, there are a few things worth considering.

First, Ritz has a stronger hard-core base of supporters than any politician in the state. Second, unions would undoubtedly raise gobs of money for her candidacy. Third, with the announcement by 2012 Democratic nominee John Gregg that he will not run again, the Democratic bench is light. And, finally, those who dismiss underdog candidates backed by angry voters — teachers upset with education reforms in Ritz’s case — have not been paying attention to politics in recent years.

After all, Mayor Greg Ballard’s 2007 win, Sen. Richard Lugar’s 2012 primary loss, and Ritz’s own win last year, were things that many political geniuses like yours truly once said were impossible. Bottom line: When it comes to politics these days, never say never.

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• So Carl Brizzi will not be charged with bribery by U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett. The news, which was announced Tuesday, surprised many political observers. What it also did was prevent what would have been, without question, the greatest courtroom spectacle of the century in Indiana. Honestly, it would have been so fascinating that I would have felt guilty getting paid to watch that circus.

Still, while it might be a sign that I’m getting soft, I have to admit that I’ve been feeling sorry for Brizzi lately. The former county prosecutor has been in the headlines for his work as a defense attorney in the case against former Secretary of State Charlie White, and another client has complained about a mishandled case. Once a rising star, he’s now a cautionary tale. Personally, I hope this saga is finally over.

• The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce made a splash on Tuesday when it announced its opposition to a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, joining a long line of business groups that have pushed state lawmakers to shelve the issue. This was a smart move by the chamber and an early example of why it was so smart to hire former city official Michael Huber to run the organization.

Part of Huber’s challenge is to update the chamber and make it relevant to a new generation of business leaders. Taking a stand like this was both brave and smart, and it sends a good message to those younger leaders who the chamber is trying to reach.

• Oh, IMPD.

The department is in the news with the trial of suspended Officer David Bisard, whose crash in a department squad car three years ago left a man dead. The trial is being held in Fort Wayne — not because it’s a such a lovely place in the fall, but rather because of the intense publicity the case has received in Central Indiana.

Of course, nothing has gone easy with the case. IMPD employees have made a series of mistakes that have both hampered and delayed the case. And now, the department is being scolded by Allen County Superior Court Judge John Surbeck for sending emails filled with trial details to potential witnesses in the case.

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“This is as bad as anything I’ve heard about the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department,” Surbeck said. “I’ve heard a lot of bad things about IMPD.”

• The week brought plenty of other news, including the blockbuster report in this paper about the sexist Ivy Tech officials who apparently have been living a real-life version of “Mad Men.” But I’ll end today with the news out of Carmel. It turns out, my colleague Dan McFeely reports, that some city officials are upset that a new store on Main Street has put up a pink sign. Yes, a pink sign! Oh, the horror.

“Carmel has really high architectural standards, with a really high look and feel to it that people have moved here for and enjoy,” City Councilman Ron Carter told McFeely. “That pink is so jarring that it dominates the overall look of that building.”

Wow. Must be nice to have troubles like this, and to have city councilman with such an eye for style. Seriously, Carter is worried about the color of a fashion boutique’s sign? It makes you wonder if he is actually trying to reinforce the stereotype that his city is shooting for some sort of Disney-esque perfection? Well, if it is, here’s something to remember: